


What You Don't Know

by TheGreatCatsby



Series: Mom Knew a Man [5]
Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom
Genre: Scarlet Witch - Freeform, quicksilver - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-07 08:32:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1892277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatCatsby/pseuds/TheGreatCatsby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“If he had a sister we would've met her when we went to his house,” Hank said. “Right?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	What You Don't Know

It started when Hank came into Charles' office and hovered by his desk until Charles, deep in the files of a new student named Remy, finally realized that Hank wasn't going to leave. 

“What is it, Hank?” he asked, tiredly. Hank almost looked apologetic.

“Have you heard about Pietro's imaginary sister?” he asked. 

“What?” Now Charles was interested. He sat up straighter. 

Hank pushed his glasses up his nose. “Yeah, um, I've overheard him mentioning his sister to a few of the students. Just casual throwaways. 'My sister' stole my goggles once, or 'my sister' used to dress up in capes. Things like that.” 

“What makes you think she's imaginary?” Charles asked. 

“If he had a sister we would've met her when we went to his house,” Hank said. “Right?” 

Charles frowned and thought back to that visit. It had seemed so long ago, and a lot had happened to make it a very vague memory. “Perhaps we overlooked it. We were a bit distracted.” 

“Should I ask him?” Hank asked. 

“If you can get him to stand still long enough,” Charles said. 

Hank grimaced and left the room. Charles sifted through his files until he found Pietro's, and he started reading through what he had. 

There was no mention of a sister. 

But everything they knew came from what Pietro had told them. 

**

Raven turned up a few days later looking uncharacteristically apologetic. 

“What did you do?” Charles asked, although he already knew what she'd done. He was wearing the result of what she'd done, an orange knitted jumper with ill-fitting sleeves. It was one of about ten jumpers. There were also gloves, hats, and a very long and very ambitious scarf. All courtesy of a bed-ridden Pietro. 

“Why are you wearing that?” Raven asked.

“This,” Charles said, holding up the scarf, “is your fault. This is all your fault. You let Pietro go on a dangerous mission and he got hurt and he's spent the last few weeks knitting me things.” 

Raven looked a bit shocked. “It wasn't meant to be dangerous,” she said. 

“Anything involving you and Erik is dangerous,” Charles snapped. “Why did you do it?” 

“We needed his skills,” Raven said, “and he wanted to prove himself to Erik. Then Erik went and killed a bunch of people, which wasn't the plan, by the way--”

“Why are you and Erik working together again?” Charles interrupted. “I thought you knew how ridiculous his plans were.” 

“I can work with whoever I want,” Raven said, folding her arms over her chest. 

“Erik,” Charles said, “is not a good person.” 

“And are you a good person?” Raven asked. “What constitutes a good person, anyway? Just because you don't agree with his methods--”

“Which are, if I may remind you, to use drones to try to kill us, destroy the White House, try to kill the President of the United States, and destroy a prison base in Cuba, killing everyone on the premises.” 

“Well,” Raven said, “he, um, also tried to save President Kennedy.” 

“He has terrible aim,” Charles said, “if that's what he calls saving.” 

“You're just angry because he won't teach at your school,” Raven said. 

“I'm angry,” Charles said, “because he seems to want a war, at the very least. I'm sure he's aiming for apocalypse.” 

Raven sighed. “Right. I've said my apologies.” 

Charles' expression softened. “You won't stay?” 

“I can't,” Raven said. “Otherwise I'll end up wearing ugly sweaters like you.” 

The sadness was there and gone from Charles' face almost as fast as Pietro could exit a room. Speaking of which... “Before you go, you talked to Pietro, yes?” 

“Yes,” Raven said. 

“Do you know anything about his imaginary sister?” 

“She's not imaginary,” Pietro said, suddenly on Raven's right. She jumped, Charles jumped, and Pietro grinned at both of them. Charles realized he hadn't closed the door. 

“You can't do that,” he said. “You'll break your leg again.” 

Pietro held up a single crutch. “Got it covered.” 

“That-that is not...never mind.” Charles glanced at Raven. “Raven was just apologizing about Erik.” 

“You,” Pietro said, nudging Raven with his crutch, “called my sweaters ugly. I resent that.” 

“Sorry,” Raven muttered. 

“And,” Pietro added, “my sister is not imaginary. She's real. I have two of them, actually, but Wanda's my twin sister and actually, they're both like me. Well, not like me because we don't act the same but we all have these abilities if you get what I'm saying.” 

Charles and Raven were staring at him. It took Charles a moment to speak, and the only thing that came out was, “Wanda?” 

“My twin sister,” Pietro repeated, very slowly. “I thought you knew about her.” 

“You didn't tell me about her,” Charles said. 

“Yeah, but I thought you just knew,” Pietro said. “I thought you knew everything in everyone's heads.” 

“He has a point,” Raven said. 

“Being inside your head is like being put in a blender,” Charles muttered. 

Pietro's eyes widened. “Oh. I was wondering why you haven't brought her to the school.” 

“What kind of powers does she have?” Raven interjected. 

Pietro shrugged. “Not as cool as mine.” 

“Pietro,” Charles said. 

“She can move things without touching them,” Pietro said, “and she can make force fields and one time she made me see things that weren't there but I'm not actually sure whether that was her powers or whether she got me really drunk. And I know what you're thinking, moving shit--”

“Where is she?” Charles asked. “Why wasn't she with you when we were at your home?” 

Pietro's eyebrows shot up. “Okay, I didn't know what you were doing that time. So I didn't mention it. She's been on a very long trip to find herself. Sent me letters, though we haven't written in awhile. I was actually hoping maybe you could, I don't know, find her. She was tired of it being only our family that had powers, like our secret or something, and I think she was hoping--”

“To find others like her,” Raven said. 

“Yeah,” Pietro said. “Because even our mom doesn't have powers. Wanda's always been more bothered about it than me. Who would've thought that if she'd stayed home she would've found what she was looking for? But this school would be great for her, I think. And I'd get to see my sister which is, you know, a bonus.” 

“You two sound like you were close,” Raven said, glancing at Charles. 

“Hello, twins,” Pietro said. 

“You never mentioned her,” Charles said. 

“I thought you knew,” Pietro said. “And I did. Just not to you. And not that she was a mutant. Well, not in those words. I may have hinted at things but, people sometimes miss things. I have this thing where I'm not sure when I'm talking too fast or not but I figure most people should be able to keep up most of the time unless I'm freaking out or something, and I'm not right now but you look totally lost.” 

“I'm...processing,” Charles said. “We need to go to Cerebro. Now.” 

“I'll come,” Raven said. 

Charles narrowed his eyes at her. “Why?” 

Pietro clapped his hands together. “To the lab!” And then he was gone. 

**

Charles slipped the device on his head and closed his eyes. Pietro seemed to be buzzing with excitement as Cerebro powered on and Charles was lost to search. 

After five minutes, he found her. 

“She's in Prague,” he said as the machine powered off. 

“Of course she is,” Pietro said, and didn't elaborate. 

“I can send Hank to find her,” Charles said, “or I can go myself.” 

“And what?” Raven asked. “Bring her here?” 

Charles blinked. “Yes.” 

“What if she'd rather do something for the mutant cause than be stuck in a school?” Raven asked. “What if she wants to meet her father?” 

“What if I want to see my sister?” Pietro snapped. “And if I want to see her here and not with him.” 

“It's her choice,” Charles said, carefully. “Raven and I can both go see her.” 

“I want to come,” Pietro said. “I don't wanna wait here just to find out you two couldn't find her in the first place, or you screwed up somehow.” 

“Fine,” Charles said. “We all go.” 

“Wait till she finds out the guy who destroyed the White House is her dad,” Pietro said. “She was already excited he was a mutant and all when she saw the news. Someone like her.” He looked at Charles and Raven. “But I'll tell her, when I think it's time. Okay? I know her. It'll be a lot to take in. Like I said, when I saw Erik on TV I barely moved for hours.” 

“Tomorrow,” Charles said. “We'll go tomorrow.” 

Pietro grinned at him. “I'll knit her a sweater!” 

**

The trip to Prague was uneventful, and Charles knew where Wanda was staying. He had Pietro leave a message at the front desk for her to meet him at a nearby park, where they all set up camp and waited. 

Pietro seemed to be a blur, and perhaps that was because he was nervous. Charles thought about sending him calming thoughts, but decided against it. Being in Pietro's mind would probably put him off-balance for the whole day. 

After half an hour, Pietro hissed, “Shit!” which made Raven and Charles look up. 

A young woman with dark hair, wearing a red leather jacket and a black skirt, was walking towards them. Pietro stood up, oddly still, until she was only a few feet away. She'd noticed Raven and Charles, but Pietro surged forward, dropping his crutch, and hugged her. 

“Wandait'sgreattoseeyouIhavesomuchtotellyousincemylastletterhowareyou,” they could hear Pietro saying. “Thesepeoplearejustlikeyouandmethey'remutantsI'vemissedyouThisisCharlesandRavenand--”

“I'm glad to see you, too,” Wanda said, pulling away from him. “And I have no idea what you just said.”

Pietro took a deep breath and, much more slowly, said, “These two are like us. This is Charles Xavier, he can read minds, and that's Raven, she can look like anybody. And this is Wanda, my sister.” 

Wanda smiled at them and shook their hands, but there was something guarded about her expression. It wasn't the same as the joyful, free smile she'd given her brother moments before. 

“A pleasure to meet you, Wanda,” Charles said. 

“So who are you?” Wanda asked. “Besides people like us. How'd you find Pietro?” 

“I broke into the Pentagon for him,” Pietro supplied. “He wanted to break an old friend out of prison.” 

Wanda's eyebrows shot up. “You can't just break into the Pentagon!” 

“I can and I did,” Pietro said, grinning widely. “Jealous?”

“No,” Wanda said. “You're probably being watched by the FBI.” 

“They didn't even see me,” Pietro said. “That's the best part of being fast.” 

“You're an idiot,” Wanda said, rolling her eyes. “And you,” she glared at Charles, “put him up to this. You're gonna make him a criminal! Well, more of a criminal than he already is. Stop feeding his idiotic tendencies.” 

“Yeah, that was a one time thing, actually,” Charles said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. “I'm actually in charge of a school for young people like you, and Pietro's enrolled in it. I teach people how best to live with their powers, and how to be responsible.” 

“Breaking into the Pentagon,” Wanda said. 

This time Pietro rolled his eyes. It was startling how much he looked like his sister in that moment. “I'm trying to be an actual human being here. Someone who actually does something.” 

“I preferred it when you stole twinkies,” Wanda said. Pietro actually looked hurt, but Wanda turned to the others and added, “So, you want me to join this school, too?” 

“I'm not part of the school,” Raven said. “I'm from a band of mutants working to make the world better for mutantkind.” 

Charles frowned, but only said, “If you want to join the school, I would be happy to have you.” 

“This is what you've been looking for,” Pietro added, softly. 

Wanda looked conflicted. “This can't be real.” 

“Why not?” Pietro asked. “You hated being the odd one out. You hated being different. And now you're not. You've got people--”

“My powers are dangerous,” Wanda said. 

“Professor X can help,” Pietro said. “He's good at that. He'll teach you. If you can't trust him, will you at least trust me?” 

Wanda looked from Charles to Pietro to Raven. “Fine,” she said. “I'll come with you.” 

Pietro grinned. 

**

Charles spent the first part of the plane ride back staring at Raven until she finally looked up from the book she was reading and snapped, “What is it?” 

“You were going to make her an offer, weren't you?” he said, leaning forward. “You're still thinking about it.” 

“I thought about it,” Raven said. “So what? You don't have exclusive rights to all the mutants.” 

“You heard Pietro; she's not in control of her powers. Which, by the way, we don't even know the nature of.” 

“That's why I didn't make my offer,” Raven said. “Among other reasons. But I might make it again, and you can't stop me.” 

“I hope the other reason was that Erik is her father,” Charles hissed, “and considering his track record with parenthood, you've realized that he shouldn't work with his children if it can be helped.” 

“I think he can learn,” Raven said. “And I think he'd want to know about his daughter.” 

“Would he?” Charles asked. “I doubt Erik doesn't want to know about anything that could hold him back and make him a sensible person.” 

“Harsh,” Raven said, sitting back. “Hate isn't attractive on you, Charles.” 

“But it is on Erik?” Charles snapped. “Because hate consumes him. Hate and anger and the more he distances himself, the more those things take over.” Charles looked over at where Wanda and Pietro were sitting, talking quietly. “They're close. There's a reason Pietro won't tell her about Erik. Because he hurt Pietro, and Pietro may be a pain in the ass but I can recognize when someone's protecting family.” 

“Like you used to protect Erik?” Raven said. “Or me?” 

“I tried,” Charles said. 

“We can't stay protected forever,” Raven said. “We all have to grow up. They'll realize it. Maybe one day you will, too.” 

Charles didn't know how to reply to that without starting a very long and unpleasant argument, and Raven had gone back to her book. 

**

“Pietro,” Wanda said. They were a few hours into their flight; it was almost time to land. “The guy you broke out of the Pentagon...that's not the guy who destroyed the White House, was it?” 

“Um,” Pietro said. Wanda stared at him. “Look, I didn't know he was gonna do that, okay? If I did—actually I still might've done it because how many people can say they've broken into the Pentagon but I mean, I didn't want him to. It's not like I sat there and was like, yeah go destroy the White House and try to kill the President and a bunch of other people.” 

“Did it scare you?” Wanda asked. “What it would make people think of us?” 

“A little,” Pietro said. “It was kind of an asshole move.” 

“Kind of,” Wanda said, smirking. 

“Very,” Pietro said. “Although I could kinda see his point?” 

“That's the scary bit, isn't it?” Wanda said. “You don't think you'd ever do those things and then people treat you badly and it escalates. You go from stealing twinkies to breaking into the Pentagon.” 

“Hey,” Pietro said. “I--”

“You need to be careful,” Wanda said. “Just because they're like us doesn't mean they can't hurt us, too.” 

“You left,” Pietro said. “I was bored. Lonely. I had to trust someone.” 

“Mom, Lorna,” Wanda said. “They're people, too.” 

“Someone like me,” Pietro clarified. “I mean, come on, Wanda. That's what you went looking for. Maybe I didn't feel like I needed to but damn, was it satisfying when they found me.” 

“Something's different about you,” Wanda said. 

“Maybe not,” Pietro said, shrugging. “Maybe that's just what happens when you haven't seen someone for a while.” 

**

Wanda was given her room at the mansion and told to get plenty of sleep. Raven had gone off to wherever it was she went when she wasn't helping Erik break things or going on her own undercover missions, and Charles was creating Wanda's file. It had taken a few minutes for Pietro and Wanda to describe Wanda's powers, which didn't have as clear of a name as “telekinesis” or “super speed.” The best Charles could describe it was by using the words “chaos magic” and that seemed a bit vague. But he left it there. 

She could move things. She could twist reality. She was powerful, with more capacity to affect the world than her brother. Charles suspected she saw reality differently as well because of it, though he hadn't looked inside her head; he wanted to gain her trust before he did that, and her permission. She was less easily trusting than Pietro had been, and Charles suspected that Pietro, in turn, would stop trusting as easily because of his encounters with Erik. 

Hank came in to report on the state of things in general; everyone else was asleep, and nothing had been destroyed, which was good enough for Charles. It would let him focus on the matter at hand: how would he deal with such a powerful student who couldn't control their powers? The task was monumental. He suspected that he would need Pietro to help him, and that he would need to use the skills he'd used to help Erik. A calm mind and the acceptance of her powers would help Wanda focus them. 

It wasn't impossible. Just difficult. 

Exactly the sort of thing Charles had opened his school for. 

**

“Wanda.” 

Wanda sat up in bed. It was morning, fairly early judging from how long the shadows were in the room, and Pietro was sitting on the end of her bed. For a moment she forgot where she was, but then she remembered. The school, the professor. Telling him about her magic. 

“Don't wake me up like that,” Wanda snapped, rubbing her eyes. “It's too early. Why're you up?” 

“Some of us don't need to sleep our lives away,” Pietro said. Wanda sighed. Pietro had never really slept in late, despite having all the appearances of someone who did. He was too wired for that sort of thing. 

“And some of us do,” Wanda said. “Why are you here?” 

“I wanted to see how you were doing,” Pietro said. “It's weird. I felt weird when I first came here, but it's nice being surrounded by others. Other mutants. I'm glad you're here.” 

“You woke me up to tell me you're glad I'm here,” Wanda said. “If that's the only reason I'm going to strangle you with the window curtain. I won't even have to get out of bed.” 

“That isn't the only reason,” Pietro said. He was twitching, almost unnoticable to the eye but she could feel it. “I have to tell you something, actually. I didn't want to tell you yesterday because so much stuff was happening, but I think you need to know. You know the man I broke out of the Pentagon? Magneto?” 

“Yeah,” Wanda said. “Does he teach here or something?” Pietro shook his head. “Then what?” 

“He's our father,” Pietro said. 

Wanda stared at him. Their father had never been around, hadn't even been around when they were born. She'd always suspected he was a mutant because their mother wasn't, so logically one of them had to be, but Magneto was a criminal. And Wanda had never thought, not for a second, that they'd actually find their father. 

“What,” she said, very quietly. 

Pietro looked concerned. “Sorry—did I say that too fast? Magneto...is--”

“I heard you,” Wanda interrupted. “I just can't believe it. Him? What's he like? Is he—that means you met him.” She remembered something their mother had told them. “It makes sense. He controls metal. Did you--”

“He's an ass,” Pietro said, suddenly. “He isn't...he knows Professor X. He works with Raven. He does things like the thing he did with the White House all the time. He's angry. Everytime I've talked to him I've wanted to tape him to the wall. The professor punched him in the face when we got him out of prison. He's killed people. I don't think it started out that way, but he's killed people and he had to get to that point somehow, right?” 

“Pietro,” Wanda said, because she was trying to process this and she wasn't sure whether she was happy or disappointed or shocked and he was talking, not too fast for her to understand because she'd grown up with him but his words were becoming like background noise. 

“Like Professor X liked him and all and now they argue all the time and I think it's because of the killing people,” Pietro continued, suddenly appearing by the window, “and he didn't used to but he's started to and I don't think he's gonna stop because he's just so angry and Wanda, I didn't tell you right away because he's just not a father. He didn't even know about us and he doesn't know what to do with us because we're not something he can recruit for his mission—I mean he can but it's probably not his best idea—and we're not something he can kill so what can he do?” 

“Pietro,” Wanda said. “How long have you known about this?” 

Pietro appeared on the bed again. “We should go into town.” 

“Pietro--”

“A few months, okay?” 

“Calm down,” Wanda told him. Pietro was standing again. Sometimes he was like looking at weird snapshots, jumping between one position and the other, disjointed and unsettling. Especially when he was upset, or anxious. 

“What if we end up like him?” Pietro said. “What if we want to?” 

“We can make our own decisions,” Wanda said. “I don't need you protecting me and you don't need Charles protecting you, because he can't and you can't. We make our own choices.” 

“Right,” Pietro said. “Sorry. Look, Wanda, I just don't want anyone to get hurt. I've never hurt people before. Sometimes I want to hurt him for not being there and I can't tell what that means, whether he's right or Charles is right because it seems like it would be so satisfying, but it also wouldn't be.” 

“You worry too quickly,” Wanda said. 

Pietro shrugged. “I do everything quickly. You're just too slow. Race you to town?” 

“You can't do--” Wanda started, but Pietro was out of the room before she could say “that.” She sighed and didn't even bother to move. 

He'd come back for her.


End file.
